KAZR-CA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KAZR-CA is a low-power Class A television station in Reno, Nevada, broadcasting locally in analog on UHF channel 46 as an owned-and-operated station of the co-owned Spanish-language TuVision network. Founded June 14, 1988, the station is owned by Pappas Telecasting. KAZR and its CW sister station, KREN-TV, are housed in a 8500 sq ft glass-walled facility at the Meadowood Mall in south Reno.

[edit] History

The station began with an original construction permit granted on June 14, 1988 to Que Television Production Inc. to build low-power television station K47CO to serve the Reno area. Shortly after getting the permit, Que Television Production sold the station to K-Fun Television Inc. After several extensions of the construction permit, K-Fun Television sold the station to Kidd Communications. There were more extensions of the permit, but Kidd Communications completed the construction, and the station was granted its initial license on July 12, 1995. Initial programming for the station is unknown.

Less than one month after licensing, Pappas Telecasting acquired the station, eventually making it a Univision affiliate. In December 1996, the FCC granted Pappas Telecasting a permit to move the station to UHF channel 68. Callsign K68HO was reserved for the station to take effect upon licensing, but the calls were never used. Instead, the station took the call letters KUVR-LP in February 1998, reflecting their status as the Univision station for Reno. KUVR-LP moved to channel 68 in April 1999.

In November 2001, Pappas Telecasting dropped the Univision network for a fledgling Spanish-language network starting up in the US, controlled in part by Pappas. The new network was called Azteca America and was an offshoot of the Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca. Pappas also obtained a Class A license for KUVR-LP, granted March 25, 2002, giving the station a measure of protection during the switchover to digital television that was beginning. The station changed call letters once again, this time to KUVR-CA. Later in the year, the station was granted a license to operate channel 68, but couldn't stay there, since their new status as a Class A station required them to be within the "core spectrum", i.e., channels 2 - 51. They requested and were granted permission to move to UHF channel 46 in January 2003 and was licensed on channel 46 in December 5, 2005. In the midst of the move, the station changed call letters once again, this time to KAZR-CA to reflect their Azteca affiliation.

Pappas Telecasting has terminated KAZR's affiliation agreement with Azteca America effective July 1, 2007; by this time, Pappas had divested their share in Azteca America. ^[1] After that date, KAZR officially became a part of Pappas' independent Spanish language network, TuVision.^[2]

[edit] Programming

As a Class A station, KAZR-CA is required to air a certain amount of locally-produced programming. The station once fulfilled that requirement with a daily 30-minute local newscast at 6:00 PM. The newscast was repeated at 11:00 PM and 1:00 AM and was the only local Spanish-language newscast in northern Nevada. The program was also the first Spanish local newscast in high definition in the United States, with the Reno market featuring two other high definition newscasts.^[3].

The newscast was canceled on March 11, 2008, when KAZR's news department (which was shared with sister station KREN-TV) was closed due to poor advertising revenues. Some Hispanic community leaders, such as Jessie Gutierrez, director of Nevada Hispanic Services, said that the popularity of the station will decrease without a local newscast, citing, "This is a growing Hispanic community, the news they provide at 6 p.m. is essential to let the Hispanic community know what's going on... They're not taking in the needs of the Hispanic community, and they're suppose to be the Hispanic station." Some of the dismissed staffers have planned to take legal action against the station.^[4]

[edit] Bankruptcy Hurts KAZR and Other Pappas Telecasting Stations

"Pappas Telecasting Inc, a private broadcasting group, filed for bankruptcy protection, citing a range of troubles from weak advertising revenue to poor network ratings that led to its current state."(Quote from the link below)

• Pappas Telecasting files for bankruptcy

[edit] Previous logos

Azteca America Reno logo, used through 6/30/2007.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• KAZR-CA profile
• Pappas Telecasting Official site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KAZR-CA